"Lee, It`s OK. Kim, well "

Clear sky for Lee Chun-soo (21, Woolsan Hyundai), and cloudy for Kim Nam-il (25, Chunnam Dragons).

World Cup stars are facing different futures. People count Lee Chun-soo, Kim Nam-il and Song Chong-gook as the best three players in the last World Cup.

Among these three, Song secured his place in the lineup of the prestigious Netherlands` club Feyenoord as early as in August. Lee and Kim are also tapping on the European market. But what each of them faces is in sharp contrast to each other.

Guus Hiddink, coach of PSV Eindhoven, has made an official offer to Lee. Therefore, what is left for Lee is not whether, but when he will fly over to Netherlands. Lee`s agency, Sky.com, will conduct negotiations between Lee`s team Woolsan and Eindhoven. During the World Cup, Lee was substituted in and rejuvenated the Korean team. Even in the K league, he demonstrated excellent performance. This season, he scored 7 and assisted 9 in 18 games, grabbing two titles for them.

Lee`s club Woolsan will reportedly demand $600,000 for Lee`s salary and $2.5 million for the consummation fee. Sin Heun-kyung, secretary general of Woolsan, said, "We have learned that Eindhoven made an official offer to Lee. But we have not received any relevant documents from it. Basically, we want to send Lee under favorable terms and conditions. Therefore, in the near future, we will start negotiations."

On the other hand, Kim Nam-il has not received any offer yet. He has emerged as the hero of teens due to his excellent defense during the World Cup. In fact, he has commanded more popularity than Lee and Song. Nonetheless, no progress is in sight for him.

First of all, his injury prevented him from making impressive records in the K league. He just made 2 assists in 15 games. On top of that, he got a severe flu and stayed in bed after the A-match with Brazil. Nonetheless, some got him wrong and criticized him, "He is just eager to make money, doing CF stuff."

Until September, Kim was first on the recruitment list of Hiddink. But Eindhoven has many players whose position, or defensive mid-fielder, overlaps with Kim`s. During his third visit to Korea, Hiddink did not mention Kim, even though he talked about Lee and Park Ji-sung.

Chunnam Dragons` secretary general, Park Kang-hoo said, "If Kim fails to go to Eindhoven, we will send him to a team in Italy or Spain. We will begin to see the details once the FA Cup is over."

stt77@donga.com